12,000 kilometres through 6 countries and 97 towns and cities over 30 days: The Conexão Adventure is now seeing four Fiat Adventure models facing arid deserts, towering mountains, treacherous roads, high winds and deep snow. The special team, made up of 11 people, is travelling through Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Paraguay as they study the legendary Inca civilization and its influence on the development of peoples of the South American continent as they have evolved today.

The Conexão Adventure got underway in Brazil on 5th August, beginning the long trek westwards across the South American continent towards Peru, where they will visit the capital of the Inca people, and where the team will turn right around and journey eastwards, arriving back in Brazil again early next month. During the 30-day trip they will visit 125 sites of interest, including archaeological museums, monuments, caves, cemeteries, small farms and dwellings, the team making direct face-to-face contact with the peoples of the region who have inherited the civilisation of the Inca race.

The idea for the Conexão Adventure was initially born out of an adventure tourism video produced by two people, Arlen Nazar and Rodrigo Zermiani, a couple of years ago. Almost a year's worth of planning has gone into the Conexao Adventure which is being supported by Fiat Automòveis, Delphi, Plascar, ThyssenKrupp, Henkel, Aethra and White Martins.
 

The tour is a deep and thoughtful trip into the continent's history which will demand all the "adventure spirit" of the past from the team. "The experience of facing unexpected situations during the trip will motivate even more the desire to cover still bigger distances," said Nazar. The planning of the tour saw the climate, tourism, attractive destinations of cultural significance with a close focus on the Inca civilization, infrastructure, lodging, supply, and the condition of the roads being some of the most important points taken into consideration.

Three Fiat models - all drawn from the tough and durable Adventure series - are taking part, forming the transportation backbone of the tour which will see the cars facing mile after mile of badly rutted roads, snow and ice, and deep water fords. The Fiat Palio Adventure 1.8 8v Flex, Doblò Adventure 1.8 8v Flex and Strada Adventure 1.8 8v Flex al have a "dual fuel" 1796cc 4-cylinder engine which puts out 105 bhp and 5,500 rpm in the case of the Palio and Strada, while running on 100 percent petrol or 110 bhp at 5,500 rpm when using pure alcohol. Meanwhile the Doblò offers 112 bhp at 5,500 rpm from pure petrol or 114 bhp at 5,500 rpm while using only alcohol. In all three vehicles though any mix of petrol and alcohol can be used at any point in time.

All the cars have been specially fitted out for the tough 30-day Conexão Adventure challenge by automotive parts manufacturer Delphi, who are one of the principle sponsors of the challenge. The Palio, Strada and Doblò are all equipped with fire extinguishers, additional warning triangles, roof storage racks, a snorkel (to feed air to the engine in situations where the normal air inlets are unable to operate a full efficiency), supplementary fuel containers, roof-mounted aluminium ramps, snow chains for the tyres, additional wheels and tyres, ropes, steel protective reinforced frames for the engine and fuel tank, inverter to provide a 127 Volt power supply alongside the usual 12 V system, a reserve battery and mobile transceiver in VHF/FM.

Finally Delphi's DS-300 communicator, which when programmed, sets in motion the GPS (Global Positioning System) internally in the vehicle and transfers information such as longitude, latitude, altitude, day and hour. It also provides a live information feed beaming straight back to the event's two main bases at Monitoramento and Gerenciamento de Risco.